Post-Thanksgiving, US shoppers quickly find themselves hounding retail stores for deals on Black Friday and/or browsing comfortably for additional discounts on Cyber Monday. According to personal finance blog Smart Money, however, you shouldn't rely on a single sale when doing all of your holiday shopping. Here's why.

You may remember we posted some great 11-11-11 deals last week, which is to say that online (and brick-and-mortar) retailers haven't exactly been saving themselves for the holidays. Smart Money explains:

The Monday after Thanksgiving generated $1 billion in online sales last year, up from $887 million in 2009, according to ComScore, a market research firm. But this year may be different. As retailers push online sales more aggressively throughout Thanksgiving week and even earlier in the season, Cyber Monday may lose some of its luster. "Every day this holiday season is Cyber Monday," says [Edward] Dworsky, [founder of ConsumerWorld.org]. Amazon, for example, opened its "Black Friday Deals" store Nov. 1, with offers such as 67% off the complete "Arrested Development" series on DVD and 83% off select high-end watches.

This isn't to say you should forget about Cyber Monday entirely, but that you don't want to overlook a good deal now just because you could find a better one when the big sale arrives. The internet is starting early this year. If that's where you're buying, start your shopping now.